This month marked the start of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, which stretches through November 30. With one named stormed already underway, The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration is anticipating an above average season—with a 70 percent chance the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season will bring 14 to 21 named storms, or storms with winds of 39 mph or higher; six to 10 hurricanes with winds of 74 mph or greater; and three to six major hurricanes, with winds of at least 111 mph.

What does hurricane season have to do with interoperability? More than you might realize.

We recently had an opportunity to hear a powerful anecdote about the importance of interoperability and health data exchange from Scott Afzal, President of CommonWell member, Audacious Inquiry.

“We developed a disaster preparedness response solution called PULSE – a software service that enables health providers in disaster settings to broadcast queries over CommonWell in addition to other national networks to find data on a person in a shelter or some other alternate care facility. PULSE has been used in production recently in California, Texas, also made it available to Louisiana during Hurricane Ida. It is an incredible asset to disaster response officials and enabled by the important work that CommonWell has done over many years.”

We’re thankful for the innovative work of companies like Audacious Inquiry, in developing real-world solutions that support providers and the individuals they treat–even during natural disasters.

Watch Scott’s full interview here.

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Provider Perspective: A tale of two crises and the value of health data interoperability

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